Assist  engine for transmit and receive functions in a modular  wireless network access device

ABSTRACT

A wireless network access device comprising a radio interface with a serial communication line, a switch, and M serial connections to M connectors for connecting up to M corresponding detachable radio modules. The radio interface forms up to M individually addressable radio communications paths. Each radio module includes a radio configured to communicate with client devices in a coverage area and a radio processor configured to manage at least one radio receiving buffer. The radio receiving buffers store receiver buffer identifiers to corresponding received data space. A processor manages communication between the client devices that communicate with the radio modules and a data network via the radio interface and a network interface when N &lt;M radio modules are connected to the radio interface. An assist engine is connected in the serial connection between the processor and the switch to manage allocation of receive buffer identifiers to the radio modules.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/544,942, titled “Modular Wireless Network Array HavingTransmit/Receive Assist Functions,” filed on Oct. 7, 2011, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Reference is made to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/521,218,titled “Modular Wireless Network Array,” filed on Aug. 9, 2011, thecontents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

Reference is made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/566,711, titled“Modular Wireless Network Access Device,” filed on Aug. 3, 2012, whichis incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to systems and methods for providingwireless networking resources and more particularly to, modular wirelessnetworking that include radio packet transmission and receptionperformance enhancement.

2. Related Art

The use of wireless communication devices for data networking is growingat a rapid pace. Data networks that use “WiFi” (“Wireless Fidelity”),also known as “Wi-Fi,” are relatively easy to install, convenient touse, and supported by the IEEE 802.11 standard. WiFi data networks alsoprovide performance that makes WiFi a suitable alternative to a wireddata network for many business and home users. Wireless communicationsfor data networks also include using the cellular telephone and mobilecommunications infrastructure. The use of Bluetooth® and other standardsimplementing a wide variety of wireless technologies is also growing.

In WiFi networks, wireless access points provide users having wireless(or “client”) devices in proximity to the access point with access todata networks. The wireless access points include a radio that operatesaccording to different aspects of the IEEE 802.11 specification.Generally, radios in the access points communicate with client devicesby utilizing omnidirectional antennas that allow the radios tocommunicate with client devices in any direction. The access points arethen connected (by hardwired connections) to a data network system,which completes the access of the client device to the data network.

WiFi access points typically include a single omnidirectional radio thatcommunicates with the clients in proximity to the access point.Recently, WiFi systems have incorporated multiple radios with anintegrated controller connected to a LAN, or other data networkinfrastructure. Examples of such multiple radio WiFi systems aredisclosed in:

-   -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/816,003, filed on Aug. 10,        2007, titled “Wireless LAN Array,” and incorporated herein by        reference in its entirety;    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/816,060, filed on Aug. 10,        2007, titled “Assembly and Mounting for Multi-Sector Access        Point Array,” and incorporated herein by reference in its        entirety;    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/816,061, filed on Aug. 10,        2007, titled “Media Access Controller for Use in a Multi-Sector        Access Point Array,” and incorporated herein by reference in its        entirety;    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/816,064, filed on Apr. 3,        2008, titled “Antenna Architecture of a Wireless LAN Array,” and        incorporated herein by reference in its entirety;    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/816,065, filed on Aug. 10,        2007, titled “System for Allocating Channels in a Multi-Radio        Wireless LAN Array,” and incorporated herein by reference in its        entirety.

WiFi access points that employ multiple radios use radios specificallyconfigured for operation in the specific WiFi access pointimplementation. The multiple radios are also provided as multiple radiochains in a single structure, or in multiple modules in which singleradios do not operate or may not be removed or added independently ofeach other. As such, the access points lack the flexibility to useindependently configured radios, or technologies.

There is a need for wireless networking solutions that allow controlover radios that operate independently without any functional orphysical dependency on other radios, interchangeably to allow radios tobe replaced with other radios in an implementation, and differentlyusing different standards or variations of standards or technologies.

SUMMARY

A wireless network access device comprising a radio interface with aserial communication line, a switch, and M serial connections to Mconnectors for connecting up to M corresponding detachable radiomodules. The radio interface forms up to M individually addressableradio communications paths. Each radio module includes a radioconfigured to communicate with client devices in a coverage area and aradio processor configured to manage at least one radio receivingbuffer. The radio receiving buffers store receiver buffer identifiers tocorresponding received data space. A processor manages communicationbetween the client devices that communicate with the radio modules and adata network via the radio interface and a network interface when N≦Mradio modules are connected to the radio interface. An assist engine isconnected in the serial connection between the processor and the switchto manage allocation of receive buffer identifiers to the radio modules.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The examples of the invention described below can be better understoodwith reference to the following figures. The components in the figuresare not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed uponillustrating the principles of the invention. In the figures, likereference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views.

FIG. 1 is an overhead schematic view of an example of a wireless networkarray.

FIG. 2 is an overhead schematic view of another example of a wirelessnetwork array.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example controller that may be usedin the example wireless network array shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example controller that may be usedin the example wireless network array shown in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams for examples of radios that may beimplemented on a radio module shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a controller that may be used in thewireless network array shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 illustrates operation of an example of a high-speed radio moduleinterface bridge and an interface bridge having in-line data processing.

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of an example system for assistingreception of data packets by radios in an example wireless networkarray.

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram illustrating operation of an examplemethod for assisting the reception of data by a radio in the systemshown in FIG. 9A.

FIG. 9C shows examples of data structures that may be used inimplementing an example of the method described with reference to FIG.9B.

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram of an example system for assistingtransmission of data packets by radios in an example wireless networkarray.

FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating operation of an examplemethod for assisting transmission of data from a radio in the systemshown in FIG. 10A.

FIGS. 10C-10E show examples of data structures that may be used inimplementing an example of the method described with reference to FIG.10B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of example embodiments, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings that form a part of the description, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments inwhich the invention may be practiced. Other embodiments may be utilizedand structural changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

I. Overview

Examples of modular wireless network platforms are described below aswireless network arrays that may be implemented in a circular housinghaving a plurality of radial sectors and a plurality of antennasarranged to provide coverage in the radial sectors. One or more of theplurality of antennas may be arranged within individual radial sectorsof the plurality of radial sectors.

The radial sectors may be configured to define radiation patterns, orcoverage patterns, that cover airspace in targeted sections, or sectors.The coverage patterns may be configured in a manner that, when combined,a continuous coverage is provided for a client device that is incommunication with the wireless network array. The radiation patternsmay overlap to ease management of a plurality of client devices byallowing adjacent sectors to assist each other. For example, adjacentsectors may assist each other in managing the number of client devicesserved with the highest throughput as controlled by an array controller.The arrangement of antennas in radial sectors provides increaseddirectional transmission and reception gain that allow the wirelessnetwork array and its respective client devices to communicate atgreater distances than standard omnidirectional antenna systems, thusproducing an extended coverage area when compared to an omnidirectionalantenna system.

The antennas used in the radial sectors may include any suitable numberand type of antenna in each sector. Examples of antenna arrays that maybe used are described in:

-   -   PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2006/008747, filed on Jun. 9,        2006, titled “WIRELESS LAN ANTENNA ARRAY,” and incorporated        herein by reference in its entirety,    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/269,567 filed on Nov. 12,        2008, titled “MIMO Antenna System,” and incorporated herein by        reference in its entirety,    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/987,040 (“'040”) filed on        Dec. 31, 2010, titled “MIMO Antenna System,” and incorporated        herein by reference in its entirety, and    -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/115,091(“'091”) filed on May        24, 2011, titled “MIMO Antenna System having Beamforming        Networks,” and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.        For purposes of maintaining clarity in the description of the        example wireless network arrays below, the antennas in the        examples are described as employing multiple input, multiple        output (“MIMO”) schemes. It is to be understood by those of        ordinary skill in the art that example implementations are not        limited to the type of antennas described.

The examples of wireless network access devices described below includeindependently operating radio modules in each radial sector. The radiomodules may provide a coverage pattern as described above, or each radiomodule may be configured to generate independent coverage patterns,which may include directional or omni-directional radiation patterns.The number of radio modules used in the wireless network access devicemay also be varied and various different radio module types may becombined to provide scalability of performance, cost, and diversity offunctionality in any given implementation.

II. Modular Wireless Network Array

FIG. 1 is an overhead schematic view of an example of a wireless networkaccess device 100 having a controller 102 and a plurality of radiomodules 104 a-104 h. The example wireless network access device 100 inFIG. 1 includes eight radio modules 104 a-104 h. The controller 102 maybe configured to operate with an optional number of radio modules 104 upto a maximum of 8 in FIG. 1. The controller 100 may be configured tooperate in different modes involving a certain number of radio modules104. For example, the controller 102 may be configured to operate in a4-port, or an 8-port wireless network access device. The controller 102may also simply adapt to the number of radio modules 104 connected toit. The controller 102 may be configured to ensure a 360° coveragepattern regardless of the number of radio modules 104, or to cover anarea having a shape customized for a specific installation.

FIG. 2 is an overhead schematic view of an example of a wireless networkaccess device 200 having a controller 202 and a plurality of radiomodules 204 a-204 p. The wireless network access device 200 in FIG. 2 issimilar to the wireless network access device 100 in FIG. 1 except thatup to 16 radio modules 204 a-204 p may be connected to the controller202 instead of the 8 in FIG. 1. The wireless network access device 200in FIG. 2 also shows a block diagram of the controller 202 including acentral processor 210, a radio interface 212, and a network interface214. The central processor 210 provides the processing resources for thecontroller 202. The central processor 210 operates with the radiointerface 212 to communicate with the radio modules 204 a-p, and thenetwork interface 214 to connect the wireless network access device 200to wider data network resources.

The radio interface 212 is configured to connect the radio modules 204a-204 p to data network resources as individual, independently operatingradios configured to communicate with client devices in the radialsector in which the radios operate. Each radio module 204 a-204 pincludes a single radio operating independently of the other radiomodules 204 a-204 p. For example, one or more radio modules 204 a-204 pmay be configured to operate as 3×3 802.11n radios, others may beconfigured to operate as 2×2 802.11n radios, others may have a singleantenna chain, and others may be configured to communicate with cellulardevices. One or more of the radio modules 204 a-204 p may also beconfigured to operate with an omnidirectional coverage pattern while oneor more of the remaining radio modules 204 a-204 p may operate with adirectional coverage pattern in the same installation. Each radio module204 a-204 p includes an interface configured to operate with the radiointerface 212 on the controller 202.

In one example implementation, the radio interface 212 operates usingthe standard PCI Express® (“PCIe®”) peripheral interface. The radiointerface 212 on the controller 202 communicates with each radio module204 a-204 p connected to the controller 202 in accordance with the PCIe®standard. The radio interface 212 manages serial links to each radiomodule in accordance with the PCIe® standard. The PCIe® standard is notintended to be limiting. It is to be understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art that any interface, whether standard or proprietary,may be used for communication to the radio modules 204 a-204 p.

The network interface 214 provides the radio modules 204 a-204 p withaccess to the data network resources allowing client devices incommunication with the radio modules 204 a-204 p to communicate overdata networks such as the Internet. Any suitable scheme may be used forthe network interface 214, which may include hardware and softwarecomponents that allow connectivity for a variety of radio types,including WiFi radios, cellular radios, and any other radio configuredfor operation in the wireless network access device 200 in FIG. 2.

The wireless network access devices 100, 200 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2provide a modular and flexible platform for implementing wirelessaccess. The wireless network access devices 100, 200 operate usingcontrollers 102, 202 having a generalized interface to the radio modules104 et seq, 204 et seq. The radio modules 104 et seq, 204 et seqimplement the generalized interface regardless of the type of radio, orconfiguration or standard used for the radio. In addition, each radiomodule 104 et seq, 204 et seq conforms to the same size and shape. In anexample implementation, radio modules 104 et seq, 204 et seq may beconfigured for operation on either the first wireless network accessdevice 100 in FIG. 1, or in the second wireless array 200 in FIG. 2,where both wireless network access devices 100, 200 are made available.It is to be understood that the two wireless network access devices 100,200 are described here as examples of configurations that may be used interms of number of the radio modules as well as the shape selected toallow for modularity. Other examples may have more or fewer radiomodules having a different shape.

III. Modular Wireless Network Platform Controller

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example controller 300 that may beused in the example wireless network access device 100 described abovewith reference to FIG. 1. The controller 300 in FIG. 3 includes acentral processor 302, a processor memory 304, a network interface 306,a signal switch 308, a radio path fanout device 310, and an assistengine 312 for communication with up to eight radio modules 320. Thecontroller 300 may be configured to provide a radio interface thatincludes a plurality of individually addressable point-to-pointconnections between the central processor 302 and each radio module. Thepoint-to-point connections may be implemented as high-speed, serialconnections at one, or a selectable one of several ports, on the centralprocessor 302 over a first radio interface path from the port on thecentral processor 302 to the fanout device 310. The fanout device 310may be controlled to select one of a plurality of radio paths connectedfrom the fanout device 310 to a corresponding radio module 320 tocomplete the point-to-point connection between the central processor 302and the corresponding radio module 320.

In an example implementation, the central processor 302 may includebuilt-in interfaces and connections for any of the network interface 306and the radio interface in accordance with selected standards. Forexample, the central processor 302 in the controller 300 in FIG. 3 maybe an off-the-shelf processor having a standard Ethernet interface and astandard peripheral interface, such as for example a PCIe® interface.One example processor that may be used, without limitation, is a Cavium®Octeon® CN52xxx processor. In other example implementations, a moregeneral purpose processor may be used, which may require addingcomponents for implementing specific network and peripheral interfacestandards that may be desired. In the example shown in FIG. 3, thecentral processor 302 includes an Ethernet interface and a PCIe®interface accessible via connections directly on the processor device,or chip. Any suitable processor may be configured to operate as thecentral processor 302 in FIG. 3, and the radio interface may beimplemented using a standard interface such as the PCIe® standard, orusing a proprietary bus interface configured to operate as describedherein.

The controller 300 includes other processor support components, such asfor example, a non-volatile memory 318, including for example, a bootROM and a USB FLASH drive interface. The controller 300 may includeother support components 316, such as for example, a clock, EPROM, and atemperature sensor. An auxiliary processor 330 may also be included tooffload housekeeping or administrative functions (such as watchdog) fromthe central processor 302. An integrated interface control bus 324 mayalso be included to allow the central processor 302 to addressprocessing peripherals, such as the supporting processing componentsincluding the EPROM at 316, the auxiliary processor 330, and the assistengine 312 by software functions programmed to access the components.These support components, the integrated interface control bus andauxiliary processors are optional or basic computing equipmentcomponents that require no further discussion.

The central processor 302 in FIG. 3 includes two input/output (I/O)ports, or pins on the chip, for communicating over correspondingintegrated and independent radio interface paths 322 a, 322 b to whichthe I/O ports connect. The control software operating under control ofthe central processor 302 may select one of the two radio interfacepaths 322 a, 322 b for communication with a selected one of up to eightradios 320. The control software may also control the signal switch 308to enable the connection to the radio path fanout device 310. The fanoutdevice 310 further controls the connection to the selected radio. Eachof the radio interface paths 322 a, 322 b includes multiple lanesconfigured to perform full duplex transmit and receive functions. Themultiple lanes provide increased bandwidth to each radio interface path322 a, 322 b. In an example implementation in accordance with FIG. 3,each lane may have a bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps providing up to 4 Gbpsfor each radio interface path 322 a, 322 b. Each radio interface path322 a, 322 b may be connected to one of the radios 320 to form a singlelink supported by the multiple lanes.

One of the two radio interface paths 322 a, 322 b may connect directlyto the signal switch 308. The other radio interface path 322 a, 322 bmay include an assist engine 312 operating in-line, or as a “look-aside”component for performing functions that assist the operation of thecontroller 300. These operations may provide boosts in performance, theability to test performance, or other operation assisting functions. Thesignal switch 308 couples the selected radio interface path 322 a, 322 bto a single interface link 325 connected to the fanout device 310.

The radio path fanout device 310 connects the single two-lane interfacelink 325 to one of up to 8 single lane radio paths 326. The 8 singlelane radio paths 326 extend to corresponding connectors on thecontroller 300 as illustrated in the controller 102 in FIG. 1. In anexample implementation, each single lane radio path 326 may have abandwidth of up to 2.0 Gbps if encoded (2.5 Gbps if un-encoded). Theradio path fanout device 310 may be programmed and controlled, using forexample, the integrated interface control bus 324, to tune theelectrical qualities of each link for optimal performance. The selectedsingle lane radio path 326 may then connect to the selected radiointerface path 322 a, 322 b at the signal switch 308. The fanout device310 controls the conversion from a single lane radio path 326 to atwo-lane (transmit and receive) radio interface path 322 a, 322 b.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example controller 400 that may beused in the example wireless network access device 200 described abovewith reference to FIG. 2. The controller 400 in FIG. 4 includes acentral processor 402, a processor memory 404, a network interface 406,a pair of signal switches 408 a and 408 b, a pair of radio path fanoutdevices 410 a and 410 b, and an assist engine 412 for communication withup to sixteen radio modules 420 a,b. The controller 400 in FIG. 4 mayinclude a radio interface configured similar to the radio interfacedescribed above with reference to FIG. 3. For example, the radiointerface in the controller 400 may include multiple point-to-pointserial connections between the central processor 402 and each radiomodule 420 a and 420 b. The central processor 402 may connect to thefanout device 410 a, which connects to the radio modules 420 a overindividual radio paths.

In an example implementation, the central processor 402 may includebuilt-in interfaces and connections for any of the network interface 406and the radio interface in accordance with selected standards. Forexample, the central processor 402 in the controller 400 in FIG. 4 maybe an off-the-shelf processor having a standard Ethernet interface and astandard peripheral interface, such as for example a PCIe® interface.One example processor that may be used, without limitation, is a Cavium®Octeon® CN63xxxx processor. In other example implementations, a moregeneral purpose processor may be used, which may require addingcomponents for implementing specific network and peripheral interfacestandards that may be desired. In the example shown in FIG. 4, thecentral processor 402 includes an Ethernet interface and a PCIe®interface accessible via connections directly on the processor device,or chip. Any suitable processor may be configured to operate as thecentral processor 402 in FIG. 4, and the radio interface may beimplemented using a standard interface such as the PCIe® standard, orusing a proprietary bus interface configured to operate as describedherein.

The controller 400 may include other processor support componentssimilar to the controller 300 in FIG. 3. The corresponding componentsare numbered, but no additional description is needed.

Similar to the central processor 302 in FIG. 3, the central processor402 in FIG. 4 includes two input/output (I/O) ports, or pins on thechip, for communicating over corresponding integrated and independentradio interface paths 422 a, 422 b connected to the I/O ports. Thecontrol software operating under control of the central processor 402may select one of the two radio interface paths 422 a, 422 b forcommunication with a selected one of up to sixteen radios 420. Thecontrol software may also control the signal switches 408 a, 408 b toenable the connection to the radio path fanout devices 410 a, 410 b. Thefanout devices 410 a, 410 b further control the connection to theselected radio. Each of the radio interface paths 422 a, 422 b includesmultiple lanes, each path operating as a full-duplex receive/transmitconnection. Each radio interface path 422 a, 422 b configures the fourlanes to provide a single link with a throughput equal to the sum of thefour lanes. In an example implementation, each radio interface path 422a, 422 b includes four lanes, where each lane may have a bandwidth of upto 2 Gbps (or 2.5 Gbps if unencrypted) providing up to 8 Gbps (or 10Gbps if unencrypted) for each radio interface path 422 a, 422 b.

It is noted that the described examples of radio interface paths 322 a,322 b (with reference to FIGS. 3) and 422 a, 422 b (with reference toFIG. 4) conform to the PCI express® interface standard. Otherconfigurations according to other standards may be used as well. Theradio interface paths may be parallel or serial buses, designed asproprietary interfaces or under another suitable standard.

One of the two radio interface paths 422 a, 422 b may connect directlyto the signal switches 408 a, 408 b. Each switch 408 a, 408 b connectscorresponding pairs of the multiple lanes that form the radio interfacepaths 422 a, 422 b. A single switch block that accommodates the fourlanes may also be implemented. The other radio interface path 422 a, 422b may include an assist engine 412 operating in-line, or as a“look-aside” component for performing functions that assist theoperation of the controller 400. These operations may provide boosts inperformance, the ability to test performance, or other operationassisting functions. The signal switches 408 a, 408 b couple theselected radio interface path 322 a, 322 b to a single four laneinterface link 425 connected to the fanout device 310.

The radio path fanout devices 410 a, 410 b connects the single four-laneinterface link 425 to one of up to 16 single lane radio paths 420 a and420 b. Each radio path fanout device 410 a, 410 b connects to acorresponding group of 8 radio paths 420 a, 420 b. The 16 single laneradio paths 426 extend to corresponding connectors on the controller 400as illustrated in the controller 202 in FIG. 2. In an exampleimplementation, each single lane radio path 426 may have a bandwidth ofup to 2.0 Gbps if encoded (2.5 Gbps if un-encoded). The radio pathfanout devices 410 may be programmed and controlled, using for example,the integrated interface control bus 424 to tune the electricalqualities of each link for optimal performance. When more than eightradios are connected, the two radio path fanout devices 410 a, 410 b maycooperate via a fanout coupling 427 to select the correct radio. Theradio path 426 may then connect to the selected radio interface path 422a, 422 b at the signal switches 408 a, 408 b. The fanout devices 410 a,410 b controls the conversion from a single lane radio path 426 to themultiple (4) lane radio interface paths 422 a, 422 b.

IV. Radio Modules

The wireless network access devices 100, 200 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,respectively, are configured to operate using radio modules 104 a-h and204 a-p in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively, created from a single radioinstance that includes an antenna design and a common physical shape.The shape enhances the operation of the antenna system by incorporatinggeometry that enhances the design of the antenna systems. The shape alsoallows the radio module 104 et seq, 204 et seq. to be used in a varietyof products providing a platform on which to build various RF solutions.For example, a radio module may operate using a dual chain WiFi MIMOradio. Another radio module in the same implementation and connected tothe same controller, may operate using a triple chain WiFi MIMO design;while still another radio module in the same implementation may operateusing another dual chain WiFi that may have a different design, whichmay include a single in, single out design. By using one shape for theradio module, all three designs can be placed into a single system justby updating the system software.

The modularity provided by the radio module platform facilitates asystem configuration and provides flexibility using easilyinterchangeable radio modules. This flexibility in the choice of radiotechnology may remain throughout the lifetime of the system and may evenexpand the flexibility available for enhancing system operation viafield upgrades. Future radio modules may be designed using increasinglypowerful chipsets that may be designed on to the radio module platformand inserted into the system as required.

The size and shape of the radio module also allow for the inclusion ofthe antennas directly onto the module. While different radio moduleswould most likely have different antennas (in terms of geometry, layout,and type of channel formed), space on the radio module allows them to beincluded directly on the module. In other example implementations,antennas could be off-board and adapted to connect using cableassemblies.

The electrical interface to the radio module from the controller (suchas 102, 202 in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively) may be proprietary orstandard. An industry-standardized interface such as PCIe® may beselected on the basis of a simple connection already available on a hostcentral processor card. The use of off the shelf chips, connectors, andsoftware drivers may then be included to substantially lower the systemcost.

In configuring a modular wireless network access device, radio modulesmay be adapted to:

-   -   1) Operate with an integrated wireless LAN AP/Controller with        embedded, directionalized antenna systems that may be used in        multiple product platforms.    -   2) Include multiple antenna systems suited for operation under        platform specific requirements.    -   3) Mate electrically to the central processing unit through a        PCI Express or other standardized interface protocols.    -   4) Mate mechanically to the central processing unit with a        combination of a standardized connector and custom latching        system.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams for examples of radios that may beimplemented on a radio module shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The radio 500 inFIG. 5 is a 2×2 MIMO radio and the radio 600 in FIG. 6 is a 3×3 MIMOradio. Other radios may also be used where implemented on boards thatshare the same size, outline, mechanical form, and electrical interfacefor operation with the controller 100, 200 (in FIG. 2). This allowsmultiple systems, with various performance characteristics, to becreated from one central processor platform by combining different radiocards. Wireless characteristics that can be varied include MIMOconfiguration (number of transmit/receive chains), number of spatialstreams (1, 2 or 3) and 802.11n features such as transmit beam formingor low density parity checking. Additionally, all radio boards may bemade interoperable between a smaller 4/8-port platform (such as forexample, the system in FIG. 1) and a larger 8/12/16 port platform (suchas for example the system in FIG. 2).

FIG. 5 shows a 2×2 MIMO radio board 500 that uses a radio boardprocessor 502 configured to perform digital media access control (“MAC”)and baseband functions of the radio as well as the analog RF functions.In an example implementation, the radio board processor 502 may be basedon an Atheros AR9392 chipset. The configuration in FIG. 5 shows a radioboard 500 configured for 2×2 MIMO operation. The radio board 500supports two spatial streams 504, 506 (also indicated as “Chain 0” and“Chain 1,” respectively) and may sustain connection rates up to 300 Mbpsin an application configured for operation according to the 802.11nspecification.

The first spatial stream 504 and second spatial stream 506 includecorresponding first and second antennas 505, 507. In an exampleimplementation of the radio board 500, the first and second antennas505, 507 may be configured to operate as described in the '040 and the'091 applications listed above. The first and second antennas 505, 507each connect to tx/rx switches 510, 512, respectively in FIG. 5. Thetx/rx switches 510, 512 may be controlled using a control connection tothe radio board processor 502 to control whether the radio board isreceiving or transmitting data wirelessly. The radio board 500 may beconfigured to implement advanced features of the 802.11n specificationsuch as maximal ratio combining, beam forming and low density paritychecking. The peripheral communication interface on the Atheros AR9392is PCIe® so it plugs directly into a controller having a PCIe®interface, which may be one of the controllers 302, 402 described abovewith reference to both FIGS. 3 and 4.

Each tx/rx switch 510, 512 connects to diplexers that multiplex ordemultiplex data over two lanes in each spatial stream 504, 506. In anexample implementation, the diplexers switch the bandwidth of the radiooperation between different radio bands. For example, the radio 500 inFIG. 5 may operate selectively in both the 2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghzunlicensed frequency bands. The diplexers enable the selection of thebands during radio operation. In the radio 500 in FIG. 5, the firsttx/rx switch 510 connects to a chain 0 receiver diplexer 514 a forreceiving data, and a chain 0 transmitter diplexer 516 a. The chain 0receiver diplexer 514 a receives data from the first antenna 505 via thetx/rx switch 510 (when triggered to receive data). The chain 0 receiverdiplexer 514 a de-multiplexes the data received from the first antenna505 for output along parallel paths, each path having a first and secondchain 0 low noise amplifier 530 a, 530 b. The first and second chain 0low noise amplifiers 530 a, 530 b output received signals alongrespective chain 0 receiving lanes 540 to the radio board processor 502.The chain 0 receiving lanes 540 communicate analog RF signals that areprocessed by the radio board processor 502 consistent with thespecifications under which the signal was communicated.

The chain 0 transmitter diplexer 516 a multiplexes the data receivedfrom parallel transmitting paths at outputs of a first and second chain0 power amplifier 532 a, 532 b and outputs the multiplexed signal to thefirst transmit/receive (“tx/rx”) switch 510 for transmitting datawireless via the antenna 505 when switched to transmit. The first andsecond chain 0 power amplifiers 532 a, 532 b receive analog RF signalsconfigured by the radio board processor 502 for wireless transmissionpursuant to a selected specification understood by a client device towhich the RF signals are directed. The analog RF signals are output bythe radio board processor 502 on a pair of chain 0 transmitting lanes542 connected to the first and second chain 0 power amplifiers 532 a,532 b.

With respect to the second chain, chain 1, the second tx/rx switch 512connects to a chain 1 receiver diplexer 514 b for receiving data fromthe antenna 507, and a chain 1 transmitter diplexer 516 b fortransmitting data. The chain 1 receive diplexer 514 b receives data fromthe second antenna 507 via the tx/rx switch 512 (when triggered toreceive data). The chain 1 diplexer 514 b demultiplexes the datareceived from the second antenna 507 for output along parallel pathshaving a first and second chain 1 low noise amplifier 530 c, 530 d. Thefirst and second chain 1 low noise amplifiers 530 c, 530 d outputreceived signals along respective chain 1 receiving lanes 546 to theradio board processor 502. The chain 1 receiving lanes 546 communicateanalog RF signals that are processed by the radio board processor 502consistent with the specifications under which the signal wascommunicated.

The chain 1 transmit diplexer 516 b multiplexes the data received fromparallel transmitting paths at outputs of a first and second chain 1power amplifier 532 c, 532 d and outputs the multiplexed signal to thesecond tan(switch 512. The first and second chain 1 power amplifiers 532c, 532 d receive analog RF signals configured by the radio boardprocessor 502 for wireless transmission pursuant to a selectedspecification understood by a client device to which the RF signals aredirected. The analog RF signals are output by the radio board processor502 on a pair of chain 1 transmitting lanes 548 connected to the firstand second chain 1 power amplifiers 532 c, 532 d.

FIG. 6 shows a 3×3 MIMO radio board 600 that uses a radio boardprocessor chip 602 configured to perform digital media access control(“MAC”) and baseband functions of the radio as well as the analog RFfunctions. In an example implementation, the radio board processor 602may be based on an Atheros AR9390 chipset. The configuration in FIG. 6shows a radio board 600 configured for 3×3 MIMO operation. The radioboard 600 supports three spatial streams 604, 606, 608 (also indicatedas “Chain 0,” “Chain 1,” and “Chain 2” respectively) and may sustainconnection rates up to 450 Mbps in an application configured foroperation according to the 802.11n specification.

The three spatial streams 604, 606, 608 include corresponding first,second and third antennas 605, 607, 609. In an example implementation ofthe radio board 600, the three antennas 605, 607, 609 may be configuredto operate as described in the '040 and the '091 applications listedabove. The three antennas 605, 607, 609 each connect to correspondingtx/rx switches 610, 612, 614, respectively in FIG. 6. The tx/rx switches610, 612, 614 may be controlled using a control connection to the radioprocessor 602 to control whether the radio board is receiving ortransmitting data wirelessly. The radio board 600 may be configured toimplement advanced features of the 802.11n specification such as maximalratio combining, beam forming and low density parity checking. Theprocessor interface on the Atheros AR9390 is PCI express so it plugsdirectly into the controller having a PCE express interface as describedabove with reference to both FIGS. 3 and 4.

Each tx/rx switch 610, 612, 614 connects to diplexers that multiplex ordemultiplex data over two lanes in each spatial stream 604, 606, 608.For example, the first tx/rx switch 610 connects to a chain 0 receiverdiplexer 616 a for receiving data, and a chain 0 transmitter diplexer618 a for transmitting data. The chain 0 receiver diplexer 616 areceives data from the first antenna 605 via the tx/rx switch 610 (whentriggered to receive data). The chain 0 receiver diplexer 616 ade-multiplexes the data received from the first antenna 605 for outputalong parallel paths or lanes, each lane having a first and second chain0 low noise amplifier 620 a, 620 b. The first and second chain 0 lownoise amplifiers 620 a, 620 b output the received signals alongrespective chain 0 receiving lanes 630 to the radio board processor 602.The chain 0 receiving lanes 630 communicate analog RF signals that areprocessed by the radio board processor 602 consistent with thespecifications under which the signal was communicated.

The chain 0 transmitter diplexer 618 a multiplexes the data receivedfrom parallel transmitting paths or lanes at outputs of a first andsecond chain 0 power amplifier 622 a, 622 b and outputs the multiplexedsignal to the first tx/rx switch 610 for transmitting data wireless viathe antenna 605 when switched to transmit. The first and second chain 0power amplifiers 622 a, 622 b receive analog RF signals configured bythe radio board processor 602 for wireless transmission pursuant to aselected specification understood by a client device to which the RFsignals are directed. The analog RF signals are output by the radioboard processor 602 on a pair of chain 0 transmitting lanes 632connected to the first and second chain 0 power amplifiers 622 a, 622 b.

With respect to the second chain, chain 1, the second tx/rx switch 612connects to a chain 1 receiver diplexer 616 b for receiving data fromthe antenna 607, and a chain 1 transmitter diplexer 618 b fortransmitting data. The chain 1 receive diplexer 616 b receives data fromthe second antenna 607 via the tx/rx switch 612 (when triggered toreceive data). The chain 1 diplexer 616 b demultiplexes the datareceived from the second antenna 607 for output along parallel paths orlanes having a first and second chain 1 low noise amplifier 620 c, 620d. The first and second chain 1 low noise amplifiers 620 c, 620 d outputreceived signals along respective chain 1 receiving lanes 634 to theradio board processor 602. The chain 1 receiving lanes 634 communicateanalog RF signals that are processed by the radio board processor 602consistent with the specifications under which the signal wascommunicated.

The chain 1 transmit diplexer 618 b multiplexes the data received fromparallel transmitting paths or lanes at outputs of first and secondchain 1 power amplifiers 622 c, 622 d and outputs the multiplexed signalto the second tx/rx switch 612. The first and second chain 1 poweramplifiers 622 c, 622 d receive analog RF signals configured by theradio board processor 602 for wireless transmission pursuant to aselected specification understood by a client device to which the RFsignals are directed. The analog RF signals are output by the radioboard processor 602 on a pair of chain 1 transmitting lanes 636connected to the first and second chain 1 power amplifiers 622 c, 622 d.

With respect to the third chain, chain 2, the third tx/rx switch 614connects to a chain 2 receiver diplexer 616 c for receiving data fromthe antenna 609, and a chain 2 transmitter diplexer 618 c fortransmitting data. The chain 2 receiver diplexer 616 c receives datafrom the third antenna 609 via the tx/rx switch 614 (when triggered toreceive data). The chain 2 diplexer 616 c demultiplexes the datareceived from the third antenna 609 for output along parallel paths orlanes having a first and second chain 2 low noise amplifier 620 e, 620f. The first and second chain 2 low noise amplifiers 620 e, 620 f outputreceived signals along respective chain 2 receiving lanes 638 to theradio board processor 602. The chain 2 receiving lanes 638 communicateanalog RF signals that are processed by the radio board processor 602consistent with the specifications under which the signal wascommunicated.

The chain 2 transmit diplexer 618 c multiplexes the data received fromparallel transmitting paths or lanes at outputs of first and secondchain 2 power amplifiers 622 e, 622 f and outputs the multiplexed signalto the third tx/rx switch 614. The first and second chain 2 poweramplifiers 622 e, 622 f receive analog RF signals configured by theradio board processor 602 for wireless transmission pursuant to aselected specification understood by a client device to which the RFsignals are directed. The analog RF signals are output by the radioboard processor 602 on a pair of chain 2 transmitting lanes 640connected to the first and second chain 2 power amplifiers 622 e, 622 f.

The radio boards 500 and 600 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are examples ofradio modules that may be implemented as the radio modules 104 a-h and204 a-p in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively. The radio boards 500 and 600 mayoperate in a system designed to accommodate a common form-factor asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, but in conjunction withradio cards adapted for diverse functions. For example, some number ofradio cards in the system could have a single antenna chain while theremainder has dual, MIMO antenna configurations. System permutations maybe created from the following variations of radio boards:

-   -   Antenna configuration (i.e. SISO, 2×2 MIMO, 2×3 MIMO, 3×3 MIMO,        etc.)    -   Antenna types        -   Directional vs. Omnidirectional    -   Various chip suppliers        -   Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom, Marvel, etc.    -   Differing transmit power capabilities        -   Internal vs. External power amplifiers    -   Different types of RF technologies        -   WiFi            -   802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad        -   Cellular            -   UMTS            -   HSPA            -   LTE        -   Bluetooth®

It is noted that the above description is not intended to be limiting inview of references to specific standards and known configurations.Rather, the modularity and flexibility provided by the radio moduleplatforms enhances the variety of systems that may be configured.

It is also noted that example implementations of the radio modules 500and 600 described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 may be configured toprovide bandwidths of up to 300 Gbps and 450 Gbps, respectively. Inaddition, the radio modules 300 and 400 may be configured for modularityto conform to a common form factor, and where there is a sizelimitation, the radio modules 300 and 400 may create challengingoperating environments at such high frequencies. It is to be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that the design of components suchas examples of the radio modules 300 and 400 may require performingimpedance matching and transmission line analysis for the conductivepath and any components between the antennas and the radio processor.The need for such techniques and analysis increases when discretecomponents are included in the radio chains as described above withreference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Impedance matching and transmission lineanalysis are known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In addition,the details involving their use will depend on design specifications andother factors relative to specific implementations.

V. High-Speed Radio Module Interface With In-Line Processing

A. Intelligent High-Speed Radio Module Interface

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a controller 700 that may be used in anexample implementation of a wireless network access device such as anexample of the wireless network access device 200 shown in FIG. 2. Thecontroller 700 in FIG. 7 includes a controller processor 702, signalswitches 704 a and 704 b, radio path fanout devices 706 and 708, anassist engine 710, and an external device interface 750. The devices areinterconnected in a manner similar to the controller 200 described withreference to FIG. 2. The controller processor 702 communicates with upto 16 radio modules 726, 728 via a selectable radio interface path 720a, 720 b, which includes a first four-lane path 720 a and a secondfour-lane path 720 b connected to the signal switches 704 a,b. Thesignal switches 704 a,b are set to select one of the two radio interfacepaths 720 a,b to use as a single link to a selected one of the up tosixteen radio modules 726, 728. The first group of the up to sixteenradio modules 726 is connected to the first radio path fanout device 706via up to eight single lane links connected to a corresponding radiomodule. The second group of the up to sixteen radio modules 728 isconnected to the second radio path fanout device 708 via up to eightsingle lane links connected to a corresponding radio module. The signalswitches 704 a and 704 b and radio path fanout devices 706, 708 may becontrolled by the controller processor 702 over an integrated interfacecontrol bus 760 or via control signals forming part of the processor'scontrol bus.

The second radio path fanout device 708 may include a fanout devicecoupling 770 to the first radio path fanout device 706. The fanoutdevice coupling 770 may be a four lane link configured to permit any ofthe up to eight radio modules 728 connected to the second radio pathfanout device 708 to connect via the first radio path fanout device 706to the controller processor 702. The connections from the first radiopath fanout device 706 to the first group of radio modules 726 mayinclude 8 1×1 links forming 8 single lane links that are connected toone of the two four-lane links, which are the radio interface paths 720a, 720 b. The second radio path fanout device 708 may also include foursingle lane links at 780 connected to corresponding external outputports in the external device interface 750.

The example illustrated in FIG. 7 may provide a variety of performance,diagnostic, test or function enhancing assist functions using the assistengine 710 and operating the second radio interface path 720 b forcommunication to the radio modules 726,728, or to the external devicesconnected to the external device interface 750. FIG. 7 shows one assistengine 710, however, multiple assist engines 710 may be configured andinserted into the radio interface path 720 b.

In an example implementation, the assist engine 710 may be afield-programmable gate array (“FPGA”) programmed with any suitable ordesirable assisting function. In general, the radio interface paths 720a, 720 b may be configurable by control software operating under controlof the controller processor 702 to select between the two paths 720 a,720 b. The controller processor 702 may select between the first radiointerface path 720 a having a direct connection to the controllerprocessor 702 and the second radio interface path 720 b with the assistengine 710 inserted into the path 720 b. The assist engine 710 may beused to process data and/or control traffic in-line with the radioprocessing path 720 b (“in-line processing” functions), as look-asidehardware assist engines (“look-aside processing” functions) for thecontroller processor 702, or as an auxiliary processor that controlscommunication between the controller processor 702 and one or moreexternal devices connected to the external device interface 750.

The assist engine 710 may perform a variety of functions depending onthe use case of the wireless network access device (such as 200 in FIG.2). For example, functions that may be implemented with in-lineprocessing performed by the assist engine 710 include, but are notlimited to, the following examples:

-   -   Counting data packets    -   Inspecting packets for specific content and then acting on what        it finds (like setting an interrupt for example).    -   Queuing data traffic    -   Policing data traffic    -   Memory address checking

Functions that may be implemented with look-aside processing include thefollowing:

-   -   Encryption/Decryption    -   Frame aggregation/de-aggregation    -   Packet parsing    -   Frame translation

The assist engine 710 may include functions that use the connections 780to the external device interface 750 for any suitable purpose. Forexample, the four device connections in the external device interface750 may be used to connect to one or more external radio modules 782.The external radio modules 782 may be configured in a variety of ways.For example, the external radio module 782 may be any radio modulehaving at least an electrical interface configured to communicate withthe controller 700. The external radio module 782 may or may not havethe same form factor that would allow it to operate as one of the radiomodules 726, 728 configured to operate with the controller 700. Theexternal radio module 782 may be used to provide a specialized link tospecially selected clients, or clients located in a specific area. Theexternal radio module 782 may also implement a different type ofwireless communication link than the radio modules 726, 728 configuredto operate with the controller 700. In another example, the externalradio module 782 may not be a ‘radio’ module, but rather a wirelessconnection using a different type of wireless signal, such as infrared,laser, any optical, any electromagnetic other than radio, or any othertype of wireless signal. The external radio module 782 may beimplemented to expand functions, capacity, or performance, or to providediagnostic testing.

B. High-Speed Radio Module Interface Bridge

The assist engine 710 shown in FIG. 7 may be used to provide other typesof processing assist functions other than those described above withreference to FIG. 7. For example, an assist engine 710 may beimplemented as an in-line data processing function in an interfacebridge. FIG. 8 illustrates operation of an example of a high-speed radiomodule interface bridge 800 and an interface bridge having in-line dataprocessing 820. FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of the interface bridge 800in normal operation utilizing a first internal interface bride 802 and asecond internal interface bridge 804 connected back-to-back by aninternal bus 810. The interface bridge 800 is configured to pass trafficconsistent with the interface standard (PCI Express, for example)between two external interfaces.

The interface bridge having in-line data processing 820 also includes afirst internal interface bridge 822 and a second internal interfacebridge 824, but with an in-line data processing function 850 operatingbetween the first and second interface bridges 822, 824 over an internalbus 860. The in-line data processing function 850 may be configured toperform any desired function. The in-line data processing function 850intercepts the communications traffic from the external interfaces andmay perform functions on the intercepted data. Examples of the types offunctions that may be performed on the data include:

-   -   Counting data packets    -   Inspecting packets for specific content and then acting on what        it finds (like setting an interrupt for example).    -   Queuing data traffic    -   Policing data traffic

The interface bridge 820 with internal processing may be implemented ineither custom silicon such as a standard cell chip or programmablesilicon such as an FPGA.

C. Transmit/Receive Assist Functions

The assist engine 710 in FIG. 7 may also be configured to provideperformance monitoring and/or boosting functions in communicating databetween the controller and the radios. An example wireless network arraysuch as the array 700 shown in FIG. 7 communicates data to betransmitted to, or data received from, client devices between the radiomodules 726, 728 and the controller processor 702. The datacommunication may be configured on any standard or proprietary datainterface system, which may employ serial or parallel links between thecontroller processor 702 and radio modules 726, 728 and a variety ofschemes, data structures, and/or architectures. Regardless of theconfiguration used, the data interchange between the radio modules andthe controller may negatively affect performance of wireless networkarrays such as the wireless network array 700 in FIG. 7. The impact onperformance increases as the bandwidth of the radio modules increasesand as more radio modules are added.

The controller processor 702 and the radio modules 726, 728 in FIG. 7implement the interchange of the data between controller processor 702and radio modules 726, 728 by forming transmit and receive buffers oneach radio module. The transmit and receive buffers contain pointers tostorage space containing data to be transmitted, or memory space inwhich to store data received by the radio. The storage space istypically allocated and managed by the controller processor 702. Thecontroller processor 702 may implement a process to provide pointers orsuitable access information for accessing the storage space to the radiomodules. For example, the controller processor 702 may implement aprocess for the controller to generate the access information and toprovide the access information to the radio involved in thecommunication. The radio then stores the access information in thetransmit and receive buffers. The performance of the wireless networkarray may degrade if the controller processor 702 is not able to providethe access information fast enough to ensure that some accessinformation is available in the transmit and receive buffers for eachradio at all times. The assist engine 710 in FIG. 7 may provideperformance assurance as described below with reference to FIGS. 9A-Cfor data reception and FIGS. 10A-E for data transmission.

1. Assist Engine for Data Reception

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of an example system 900 for assistingreception of data packets by radio modules in an example wirelessnetwork array. The system 900 includes the wireless network arraycomponents described above with reference to the wireless network array700 in FIG. 7. The components include a controller processor 902, anassist engine 904, a switch 906, and up to N radio modules 908 a-n. Thecontroller processor 902, the assist engine 904, and the switch 906 mayoperate on an example of the controllers described above with referenceto FIGS. 1-3. The switch 906 manages communications connections betweenthe controller processor 902 and the radio modules 908 a-n under thecontrol of the controller processor 902 pursuant to a selectedcommunications interface. The radio modules 908 a-n may be connected tothe controller as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-4 andoperate modularly as independent and distinct radio modules subject tothe communications interface with the controller. The system 900 inFIGS. 9A-9C is described below as including a communications interfacebased on the PCIe® standard. It is to be understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art that any suitable standard or proprietary interface maybe used.

The radio modules 908 a-n include a plurality of radio receiving buffers910 a-n. In the example shown in FIG. 9A, each radio module 908 a-nincludes multiple buffers 910 a-n. For example, radio 1 908 a includesmultiple radio receiving buffers 910 a. Each radio module 908 a-n mayuse the same or different number of radio receiving buffers 910 a-n.

The radio receiving buffers 910 a-n may be implemented as first in,first out (FIFO) buffers in which pointers, or other suitableinformation access elements, are stored. The controller may provide theradio module 908 a-n with the information access elements for storage inthe radio receiving buffers 910 a-n. The controller and radio modules908 a-n may also be configured to permit direct access from thecontroller processor 902 on the controller to the radio receivingbuffers 910 a-n on the radio modules 908 a-n. The information accesselements may be added to the radio receiving buffers 910 a-n as needed.The radio modules 908 a-n receive data from client devices as signalsover wireless connections. The radio processors in the radio modules 908a-n process the signals as data packets formatted for storage andeventual use by the controller processor 902 in the controller. Theradio processors obtain an information access element, typically apointer to a data storage space, from the radio receiving buffers 910a-n. When an information access element is obtained from a radioreceiving buffer, the element is taken off the radio receiving buffer910 a-n leaving the radio receiving buffer 910 a-n with one fewerstorage options. The controller processor 902 in the controller istasked with replacing the information access element. In a given radioreceiving buffer 910-n, the information access elements may be removedsuccessively at a high rate when experiencing a high level of datatraffic at a given radio. The controller processor 902 may not be ableto replace the used information access elements particularly when thecontroller processor 902 is operating with a large number of radiomodules.

The assist engine 904 may be configured as shown in FIG. 9A to include areceiver assist engine memory 912 implemented as read-write memory (suchas RAM) and logic that manages a plurality of lists, or queues referredto as assist engine (“AE”) receiving queues 914 in FIG. 9A, configuredto ensure that the radio receiving buffers 910 a-n are supplied withsufficient information access elements. The assist engine 904 mayconfigure, for each radio, an AE receiving queue 914 a-n correspondingto each of the radio receiving buffers 910 managed by the radio. The AEreceiving queues 914 include queue elements that may conform to a datastructure defined to allow the queue elements to contain informationabout storage space that may be made available to the correspondingradio. The queue elements may include information such as an informationaccess element, queue management information and status information. TheAE receiving queue 914 may have storage configured for a predeterminednumber of queue elements, which may be determined by tuning oridentifying by analysis or by testing how many queue elements are neededto keep the radio receiving buffers 910 sufficiently supplied withinformation access elements.

The assist engine 904 provides in-line processing between the controllerprocessor 902 and the radio modules 908 a-n. The assist engine 904receives information access elements from the controller processor 902for storage in the AE receiving queues 914, and provides informationaccess elements to the radio modules from the AE receiving queues 914.The assist engine 904 may be further configured to monitor the status ofthe radio receiving buffers 910, which allows the assist engine 904 todetermine when to provide information assist elements to the radiomodules. When data traffic is high, the assist engine 904 may providethe information access elements more quickly than the controllerprocessor 902, which helps ensure that the radio receiving buffers donot reach an empty state.

The controller processor 902 supplies information access elements to theassist engine 904 while allocating data storage in system memory 912 forthe data received by the radio modules 908. The information accesselements may provide information for accessing selected data buffers 916a-n, which may be allocated as multiple storage areas for each radio.The information access elements may be pointers, or other datastructures that may include a pointer to the buffers 916 a-n. When aradio reads or removes an information access element from the radioreceiving buffer, the radio stores the received data packet(s) in thedata buffer 916 corresponding to, or pointed to, by the informationaccess element.

The AE receiving queues 914 a-n and the management of the AE receivingqueues 914 a-n by the assist engine 904 may be implemented in a varietyof ways. FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram illustrating operation of anexample method for assisting the reception of data by a radio in thesystem shown in FIG. 9A. Operation of an example assist engine 904configured to assist data reception is described below where:

-   -   1. Queues 914 a-n are implemented as linked lists.    -   2. An information access element is a “SKB,” or “socket buffer,”        which is known to those of ordinary skill in the art as a type        of data storage element.        FIG. 9C shows examples of data structures that may be used in        implementing an example of the method described with reference        to FIG. 9B. FIG. 9C includes diagrams illustrating examples of        data structures for an SKB 930, a receiver linked list element        940, and a receiver linked list status block 950.

The SKB 930 shown in FIG. 9C includes a descriptor area 932 and a datastorage area 934. The descriptor area 932 may be 12 dwords (48 bytes)for example in the first portion of the SKB 930. The data storage area934 of the SKB 930 holds available blocks of system memory 912 in apredetermined size. For example, the data storage area 934 may include 4kbytes blocks of space. The memory for the SKBs 930 may be allocated insystem memory 912 as the buffers 916 as shown in FIG. 9A and 9Baccessible by 32-bit addresses. The radio receiving buffers 918 a-n (inFIG. 9A) may be implemented as FIFOs that store the 32-bit addresses tothe SKB 930.

The AE receiving queues 914 a-n may be created by any availableprocessing unit, which includes the controller processor 902 and theassist engine 904. In an example implementation, the AE receiving queues914 a-n are created by the controller processor 902 and managed by theassist engine 904. For each radio module 908, each radio receivingbuffer 910 has a corresponding AE receiving queue 914 managed by theassist engine 904. For example, if radio 1 908 a uses two radioreceiving buffers 910 a, the assist engine 904 maintains two AEreceiving queues 914 a, one AE receiving queue 914 a for each radioreceiving buffer 910 a. Each AE receiving queue 914 may store elementssuch as a AE receiving queue element 940 shown in FIG. 9C. The AEreceiving queue 914 is implemented as a linked list of AE receivingqueue elements 940. The AE receiving queue element 940 includes a linkpointer field 942, which may be used to create the linked list. A nullvalue stored in the link pointer field 942 indicates the end of thelist. The AE receiving queue element 940 also includes an itemindicating information regarding the storage space reserved tocorrespond to the AE receiving queue element 940. An example item is aSKB pointer field 944 shown in the AE receiving queue element 940 inFIG. 9C, which may be implemented as a 32-bit address of the free databuffer, which is the access information, or pointer, that is to becommunicated to the radio for storage in the radio receiving buffer.

The AE receiving queue element 940 includes a flags field having 2 bits.In the illustrated example, the two bits are defined as the end-of-list(EOL) detected bit and the receive-done bit. The EOL bit may be set bythe assist engine 904 when a null link pointer is encountered toindicate that the end of the linked list has been reached. The EOL flagbit may be used to empirically determine how long the linked list needsto be to avoid the EOL condition. The assist engine 904 may beconfigured to set the receive-done bit in a given linked list element toindicate that the assist engine 904 has determined that a packet isfully buffered in the SKB 930 that is associated with the AE receivingqueue element 940.

The assist engine 904 monitors the status of the AE receiving queues 914and uses the receiver linked list status block 950 to track the state ofpacket reception for a corresponding AE receiving queue 914. Thereceiver linked list status block 950 includes the following statuselements:

-   -   1. a radio head pointer 952, which identifies the AE receiving        queue element 940 corresponding to the SKB 930 allocated to        store the next packet received by the radio.    -   2. a RAE head pointer 954, which identifies the AE receiving        queue element 940 corresponding to the next SKB 930 that will be        used by the radio for storage in the radio receiving buffer 910.    -   3. a depth field 956, which indicates the number of SKBs that        are currently stored in the receiver data buffer 910.    -   4. a current SKB pointer 958, which identifies the SKB 930        allocated to store the next packet received by the radio.        The assist engine 904 monitors the status of the data reception        by polling, snooping, or performing other suitable        state-tracking mechanisms to track the accesses to the SKB        identified in the current SKB pointer 958 in order to determine        when the data- and descriptor-writes are complete. The        completion of the data- and descriptor-writes triggers the        assist engine 904 to set, or write, the receive-done bit in the        corresponding AE receiving queue element 940 (for example, the        linked list element identified in the radio head pointer 954)        and to write the next available SKB (given in the RAE head) to        the radio receiving buffer 910.

Referring to FIG. 9B, the controller processor 902 and the assist engine904 are depicted on a controller side 980, and the radio 1 908 a isdepicted on a radio side 990 of an example of the system 900 shown inFIG. 9A. The radio 1 908 a has two radio receiving buffers 910-1 and910-2. The controller processor 902 accesses system memory 912 (in FIG.9A), which contains a buffer 916 labeled ‘SKB2.’ The buffer 916 is forpurposes of this description, an example of the SKB 930 described abovewith reference to FIG. 9C. The assist engine 904 in FIG. 9B manages afirst radio 1 AE receiving queue 914-1 and a second radio 1 AE receivingqueue 914-2, which are examples of the AE receiving queues 914 a-ndescribed above with reference to FIG. 9A. The first radio 1 AEreceiving queue 914-1 and second radio 1 AE receiving queue 914-2 forthis example are implemented as receiver linked lists containing linkedlist elements having the data structure of the AE receiving queueelement 940 described above with reference to FIG. 9C. The first radio 1AE receiving queue 914-1 corresponds to the first radio receiving buffer910-1 in radio 1 908 a. The second radio 1 AE receiving queue 914-2corresponds to the second radio receiving buffer 910-2 in radio 1 908 a.

The example shown in FIG. 9B schematically illustrates a received packetreceived by radio 1 908 a at 970. Radio 1 908 a receives the receivedpacket as a signal transmitted wirelessly by a client device andprocesses the signal to generate the received packet. Radio 1 908 aobtains a radio receiving buffer element from the first radio receivingbuffer 910-1. The radio receiving buffer element is an element labeled‘@SKB2,’ which may be a pointer to SKB2, or data structure havinginformation for accessing SKB2, on the controller side 980. Radio 1 908a stores the received packet data in the storage space identified by‘SKB2’ at 972.

On the controller side 980, the storage of the received packet in ‘SKB2’is reflected at 976. The assist engine 904 manages the receive linkedlist elements stored in the radio 1 AE receiving queue 914-1. The radio1 AE receiving queue 914-1 includes the following AE receiving queueelements:

-   -   AE receiving queue Element: SKB2—a linked list element        corresponding to SKB2,    -   AE receiving queue Element: SKB1—a linked list element        corresponding to SKB1,    -   AE receiving queue Element: SKB0—a linked list element        corresponding to SKB0,    -   AE receiving queue Element: SKB (next to buffer)—a linked list        element corresponding to the next SKB to be put in radio data        buffer,    -   AE receiving queue Element

It is to be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that thestate of the data structures shown in FIG. 9B is a snapshot in time ofwhat can be a dynamic system. The snapshot represents the state of thesystem as the received packet is being stored in SKB2 by the radiomodule 908 a, and the state of the linked list status block 950 for thefirst radio AE receiving queue 914-1 is as shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Status Element Current Value Radio Head Pointer Pointer to AEreceiving queue Element: SKB2 (Current) RAE Head Pointer Pointer to AEreceiving queue Element: SKB (next to buffer) Radio FIFO Depth 3 CurrentSKB Pointer @SKB2

Given the state reflected by the values of the linked list status block950 shown in Table 1, the receiver linked list element 974 in thisexample is the current linked list element as indicated by the RadioHead Pointer. The current linked list element 974 corresponds to SKB2,which is the SKB that the radio module 908 a will use, or is using, forstoring the received data packet 970. The current linked list element974 is linked to the next linked list element, which is the elementlabeled ‘AE receiving queue Element: SKB1.’ The link to AE receivingqueue Element: SKB1 is indicated in the link field 942 (in FIG. 9C) ofthe current linked list element 974. Similarly, the link field 942 (inFIG. 9C) of the linked list element labeled ‘AE receiving queue Element:SKB1’ indicates a link to the next element, ‘AE receiving queue Element:SKB0.’ The assist engine 904 configures the first AE receiving queue914-1 to continue the link to subsequent elements as indicated by thecurved arrows next to the elements.

The RAE Head Pointer in the linked list status block 950 shown in Table1 is a pointer to AE receiving queue Element: SKB (next to buffer),which is the linked list element corresponding to the next SKB to beadded to the radio receiving buffer 910-1 on the radio side 990. TheRadio Buffer Depth is set to 3 to indicate that @SKB0, @SKB1, and @SKB2are stored in the radio receiving buffer 910-1 of radio 1 908 a. TheCurrent SKB Pointer is @SKB2 to indicate that the next radio packet willbe, or is being, stored in SKB2.

The assist engine 904 monitors the status of the SKB 916 by polling orsnooping, or otherwise checking whether the storage of the received datahas completed. The assist engine 904 may monitor the status by detectingwhen the descriptor field 932 of the current SKB 974 (‘SDB2’ asindicated by the current SKB pointer in Table 1) has been written. Whilechecking for completion of the storage of the received data, the assistengine 904 determines the next linked list element corresponding to thenext SKB to be used by the radio 1 908 a for the next packet byreferring to the link field 942 (in FIG. 9C) of the current linked listelement (AE receiving queue Element: SKB2 (current)). The next linkedlist element is AE receiving queue Element: SKB1 in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 9B.

When the storage of the received packet data in SKB2 has completed, theassist engine 904 sets the Receive-Done bits at 904 (in FIG. 9C) of thecurrent linked list element LLE: SKB2 (Current). The current linked listelement AE receiving queue Element: SKB2 (Current) is thus madeavailable to the controller processor 902 for use with a new SKB. Thepointer to the AE receiving queue Element: SKB1 linked list element iswritten to the Radio Head Pointer 952 (in FIG. 9C) of the linked liststatus block 950.

The assist engine 904 also determines the next SKB pointer to add to theradio receiving buffer 910-1 of the radio module 908 a by reference tothe link field 942 (in FIG. 9C) of the linked list element AE receivingqueue Element: SKB (next to buffer) identified in the RAE Head Pointerof the linked list status block 950. The pointer to the next SKB, @SKB(next to buffer), is provided to the radio module 908 a for storage asshown at 981 on the radio side 990. The link field value in the linkedlist element AE receiving queue Element: SKB (next to buffer) points tothe next linked list element to be used to add an SKB to the radioreceiving buffer 910-1. The link field value for AE receiving queueElement: SKB (next to buffer) is a pointer to AE receiving queueElement, which is then written to the RAE Head Pointer 954 (in FIG. 9C)in the linked list status block 950. After the linked list status block950 is updated for the new current linked list element, the linked liststatus block 950 is as shown in Table 2 below:

TABLE 2 Status Element Current Value Radio Head Pointer Pointer to AEreceiving queue Element: SKB1 RAE Head Pointer Pointer to AE receivingqueue Element Radio FIFO Depth 3 Current SKB Pointer @ SKB (next tobuffer)

It is noted that if the assist engine 904 is not generating asufficiently long linked list, an End-Of-List condition may be detectedwhen the link field value of the linked list element identified by theRAE Head Pointer is null. This condition may be avoided by prior testingand analysis of the performance of the system to adjust the number andsize of buffers and queues used for receiving data. It is noted as wellthat the Radio FIFO Depth value in the linked list status block 950 didnot change when a new SKB was added pursuant to the removal of an SKB.Depending on the amount of data being received by the radio module 908 aat any given time, the assist engine 904 may be able to provide SKBs tothe radio module 908 a as the radio module 908 a uses the SKBs in theradio receiving buffer, thus keeping the Radio FIFO Depth consistentlyunchanged. In an example implementation, the assist engine 904 fills theradio receiving buffers 910 with SKBs during initialization of thesystem 900 before data reception and transmission has begun ensuringthat the radio receiving buffers 910 can be filled before data can bereceived. After the system 900 has initialized, each radio module 908a-n is serviced in a round robin fashion. If the assist engine 904detects that a packet was received into an SKB, a new SKB is added tothe radio receiving buffer 910 to replace it in the same round-robininterval assuming the end of the linked list has not been reached. Inthe example implementation, one packet is processed per radio in eachround-robin interval, and the round-robin interval determines themaximum rate at which SKBs can be provided to the radio receivingbuffers 910 a-n. In periods of high input traffic to the radio module908 a, the Radio FIFO Depth may decrease. By selecting suitable bufferand queue sizes, the likelihood of emptying any one radio receivingbuffer 910 may be minimized.

2. Assist Engine for Data Transmission

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram of an example system 1000 for assistingtransmission of data packets by radio modules in an example wirelessnetwork array. The system 1000 includes the wireless network arraycomponents described above with reference to the wireless network array700 in FIG. 7. The components include a controller processor 902, anassist engine 904, a switch 906, and up to N radio modules 908 a-n. Thecontroller processor 902, the assist engine 904, and the switch 906 mayoperate on an example of the controllers described above with referenceto FIGS. 1-3. The switch 906 manages communications connections betweenthe controller processor 902 and the radio modules 908 a-n under thecontrol of the controller processor 902 pursuant to a selectedcommunications interface. The radio modules 908 a-n may be connected tothe controller as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-4 andoperate modularly as independent and distinct radio modules subject tothe communications interface with the controller. The system 1000 in10A-10E is described below as including a communications interface basedon the PCIe® standard. It is to be understood by those of ordinary skillin the art that any suitable standard or proprietary interface may beused.

The radio modules 908 a-n include a plurality of radio transmit buffers960 a-n. In the example shown in FIG. 10A, each radio module 908 a-nincludes multiple radio transmit buffers 960 a-n. For example, radio 1908 a includes multiple radio transmit buffers 960 a. Each radio module908 a-n may use the same or different number of radio transmit buffers960 a-n. The multiple radio transmit buffers 960 a-n may be implementedas First-in, First-out (FIFO) buffers, and may be used to implementmultiple priority levels for data transmission. In an exampleimplementation, the radio module 908 a-n may be provided with 10 FIFOqueues that are each 8 entries deep.

The assist engine 904 manages multiple assist engine (“AE”) transmitqueues 964 a-n per radio module 908 a-n. The assist engine 904 managesthe AE transmit queues 964 a-n with the objective of keeping each FIFOradio transmit buffer 960 a-n in non-empty state as long as there arepackets available to send.

In operation, the controller processor 902 configures data packets totransmit to client devices being serviced by the radio modules 908 a-nas data to transmit 954. The data to transmit 954 is communicated overthe PCIe bus connection to the switch 906 where it is subject to in-lineprocessing by the assist engine 904. The assist engine 904 configures AEtransmit queues 964 a-n corresponding to elements of the data totransmit 954. For example, the data to transmit 954 may be provided apacket at a time, or multiple packets at a time, which may be stored inmemory. Information about the packets, which may include the memorylocation in which they are stored, their destination, their size, theirpriority, and any other suitable information, may be provided orpackaged by the assist engine 904 as “control descriptors.” The controldescriptors are the elements of data that are stored in the radiotransmit buffers 960 a-n where they wait to be retrieved and transmittedby the radio module 908 a-n. A control descriptor may correspond to datapackets provided as “aggregate packets,” which are, for example,multiple MAC layer packets with a single PHY header. The controldescriptor for aggregate packets may point to additional controldescriptors that also point to data packets.

The assist engine 904 provides the control descriptors to the radio forstorage on the radio transmit buffers 960 a-n providing the radio module908 a-n with information (such as a pointer) regarding the data to betransmitted. The process of managing the AE transmit queues 964 a-n toprovide control descriptors to keep the radio transmit buffers 960 a-nin a non-empty state may be implemented by the assist engine 904 using aplurality of data structures. Examples of data structures that may beused by the assist engine 904 are described with reference to FIGS.10C-10E.

FIG. 10C illustrates diagrams for an example of a data structure for acontrol descriptor 1010 and an AE transmit queue state 1020. FIG. 10Ddepicts diagrams of example data structures for an AE transmit queueelement 1030 and an AE transmit status ring 1040. FIG. 10E depictsdiagrams of example data structures for a status linked list head 1050and a radio transmit buffer depth state 1060.

Referring to FIG. 10C, the control descriptor structure 1010 includes alink to additional control descriptors 1012, a link to the data bufferin system memory containing the data to be transmitted 1014, an amountof data bytes in the buffer 1016, and a total packet size 1018. Otherfields may be added depending on specific implementations of the exampleshown in FIG. 10C. The AE transmit queue state 1020 stores the head (apointer for example) of each AE transmit queue in a plurality of queueheads 1022, 1024, 1026, and a backlog bit corresponding to each AEtransmit queue per radio. For example, the radio module 908 a mayoperate using 10 radio transmit buffers 960 a that are each 8 elementsdeep. For each of the 10 radio transmit buffers 960 a, the assist engine904 manages 10 AE transmit queues 964 a for which the AE transmit queuestate 1020 stores the head (pointer) of each of the 10 AE transmitqueues at 1022, 1024, 1026 such that N=10. A total of N=10 backlog bitsare also managed at 1028.

In operation, when an available AE transmit queue element, which mayhave a structure described below with reference to FIG. 10D, is providedfor storage in an empty AE transmit queue (that is, an AE transmit queuewith no valid entries), the transmit queue head 1022, 1024, 1026 for thecorresponding AE transmit queue will be set to the pointer to the AEtransmit queue element being provided. In addition, the backlog bitcorresponding to AE transmit queue that contains the available AEtransmit queue element will be set. If the backlog bit is already setwhen the pointer to the linked list element is provided, the transmitqueue head 1022, 1024, 1026 is not updated and the pointer to the AEtransmit queue element being provided will eventually be accessedthrough a link in the previous linked list AE transmit queue elementthat was added to the AE transmit queue.

When there are no linked list AE transmit queue elements in the AEtransmit queue, and a new element is added, the backlog bit is set andthe AE transmit queue pointer becomes the beginning of the linked listthat forms the AE transmit queue. If only one AE transmit queue elementin the linked list of the corresponding AE transmit queue is used, thebacklog bit is set and then cleared as soon as the last AE transmitqueue element is removed from the AE transmit queue.

Referring to FIG. 10D, the transmit queue element structure 1030includes a link pointer or link field 1032, a control descriptor pointer1034, and a status descriptor pointer 1036. The link field 1032 is usedto create the linked list and points to the next linked list element inthe AE transmit queue 964. A null value in the link field 1032 indicatesthe end of the list. The control descriptor pointer 1034 points to apacket to be transmitted and is pushed onto one of the radio transmitbuffers 960 by the assist engine 904. The status descriptor pointer 1036points to an area of memory to be used by the assist engine 904 to store(and thereby communicate) the transmit completion status after a packetis transmitted by the radio module 908.

The assist engine 904 may manage a status ring having the status ringstructure 1040 in FIG. 10D for each radio module 908 a-n. In an exampleimplementation, the status ring 1040 may reflect the same structure of astatus ring programmed into the radio module 908 a-n. The status ring1040 may be a block of contiguous memory that is divided into sub-blocksto hold the transmit completion status of each packet that istransmitted by the radio module 908 a-n. The sub-blocks in an exampleimplementation are 9 dwords (36 bytes) in size. The sub-blocks areorganized to have a start pointer 1042, an end pointer 1044, and acurrent pointer 1046. The status ring 1040 corresponds to the radiomodule 908 a. The sub-blocks referenced by the status ring pointers1042, 1044, 1046 may refer to data packets being transmitted by any ofthe radio transmit buffers 960 corresponding to the radio module 908 a.

At initialization, the start pointer 1042 and current pointer 1046 areset to the same value and address the same sub-block. When transmitcompletion status is written to the current pointer 1046, the currentpointer 1046 is incremented by the size of the sub-blocks (for example,9 dwords). When the current pointer 1046 and end pointer 1044 becomeequal and transmit completion status is written to the area indicated bythe current pointer 1042 (and end pointer 1044 in this case), thecurrent pointer 1046 will be set back to the start pointer 1042.

Referring to FIG. 10E, the status linked list head 1050 stores the head(or pointer) of a linked list of elements that store the statusdescriptors that are used when the transmission of the transmit packetspending in the radio transmit buffer has completed. The status linkedlist head 1050 contains the head of a status linked list for each radiotransmit buffer 960. In an example implementation, the status linkedlists indicated for the radio transmit buffers 960 is the same as the AEtransmit queues 964 used to push control descriptors down to the radiotransmit buffers 960. That is, for a given radio transmit buffer 960,the assist engine 904 follows the AE transmit queue 964 to first pushcontrol descriptors down to the radio transmit buffer 960. The assistengine 904 then follows the same AE transmit queue 964 (referred to asthe ‘status linked list’ for the operation of the status linked listhead 1050 in FIG. 10E) after the transmit completion status comes backfrom the radio module 908 to obtain a corresponding status descriptor1036 (in the AE transmit queue element 1030 in FIG. 10C) in which toplace the completion status data.

The radio transmit buffer depth state 1060 is used by the assist engine904 to keep track of the queue depths of each radio transmit buffer 960.The radio transmit buffers 960 in an example implementation store amaximum of 8 control descriptors in each of the 10 radio transmitbuffers 960. The assist engine increments the depth of a given radiotransmit buffer 960 when a control descriptor is pushed on to the radiotransmit buffer 960. When transmit complete status is received from theradio module 908 for that same radio transmit buffer 960, the assistengine 904 decrements the queue depth in the slot in the transmit bufferdepth state 1060 that corresponds to the given radio transmit buffer960. The assist engine 904 will not push additional control descriptorson to a radio transmit buffer 960 that already has a maximum number ofcontrol descriptors outstanding

It is noted that the AE transmit queues 964 are managed to ensure thatthe radio transmit buffers 960 are not empty of control descriptors aslong as the controller processor 902 has packets to send for thecorresponding radio module 908. If there are no packets to send via agiven radio module 908, the radio transmit buffer 960 for that radiomodule 908 may be empty and there may be no linked list elements in theAE transmit queue 964 corresponding to the empty radio transmit buffers960. When a substantial number of data packets are prepared by thecontroller processor 902 for transmission via a given radio module 908,the radio module 908 may transmit the data from the control descriptorsin its radio transmit buffers 960 faster than the controller processor902 can provide control descriptors for data that is ready to betransmitted. The AE transmit queues 964 are managed to keep the radiotransmit buffers 960 in a non-empty state by maintainingready-to-transmit control descriptors to push to the radio transmitbuffers 960 during times when the controller processor 902 wouldotherwise be unable to push the control descriptors.

FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating operation of an examplemethod for assisting transmission of data from a radio in the systemshown in FIG. 10A. The following description references the datastructures described above with reference to FIGS. 10C-10E. For purposesof illustration, the example illustrates transmission of data by radio 1908 a. Operation of the system 1000 is described in the context of anexample of the state of two AE transmit queues 964-1, 964-2, two radiotransmit buffers 960-1, 960-2, and examples of data structures describedwith reference to FIGS. 10C-10E. The first AE transmit queue 964-1 ismanaged to provide control descriptors to the first radio transmitbuffer 960-1. The second AE transmit queue 964-2 is managed to providecontrol descriptors to the second radio transmit buffer 960-2. The datatransmission described involves the control descriptors in the firstradio transmit buffer 960-1 as illustrative of the process involving anyof the other radio transmit buffers 960.

In the state of the system 1000 as shown in FIG. 10B, the first radiotransmit buffer 960-1 contains three control descriptors CtlD0, CtlD1,CtlD2, and the first AE transmit queue 964-1 contains three AE transmitqueue elements. The radio module 908 a transmits data packets fromcontrol descriptors in the radio transmit buffer 960-1 as long as theradio transmit buffer 960-1 contains control descriptors. The radiomodule 908 a retrieves the next control descriptor, control descriptorCtlD2, to be transmitted from the radio transmit buffer 960-1 at 1070.The radio module 908 a retrieves the data corresponding to the controldescriptor CtlD2 and transmits the data packet at 1074.

On the controller side 980, the controller processor 902 may have a newdata packet packaged in a control descriptor with data to transmit viaradio module 908 a. The control descriptor is placed in an AE transmitqueue element 1030 (in FIG. 10D) by setting the control descriptorpointer 1034 (in FIG. 10D) with the pointer to the control descriptor,and the status descriptor pointer 1036 (in FIG. 10D) with the pointer tothe area in which the transmit completion status will be written. Thelink field 1032 of the AE transmit queue element 1030 is set to null.The link field of the previous AE transmit queue element to be added tothe AE transmit queue is updated to include the pointer of the next AEtransmit queue element 1030 assuming the previous AE transmit queueelement has not been fully processed.

The controller processor 902 pushes the new transmit linked list elementon to the AE transmit queue 964-1 at 1030 in FIG. 10B. The AE transmitqueue 964-1 in FIG. 10B is not empty. Therefore, the backlog bit for theAE transmit queue 964-1 is already set, and the transmit queue headalready contains the pointer to the AE transmit queue head, or pointerto the initial linked list element. If the AE transmit queue 964-1 wasempty and the backlog bit was clear before the linked list element wascreated at 1080, the assist engine 904 would update the transmit queuehead and backlog bit corresponding to the first AE transmit queue 964-1in the AE transmit queue state 1020.

When the backlog bit is set, either by the new linked list element at1080 or by a previous linked list element in the AE transmit queue964-1, the backlog bit is detected by the assist engine 904. If thecorresponding radio transmit buffer 960-1 is not filled at its maximumlevel, the assist engine 904 pops the next linked list element off theAE transmit queue 964-1 at 1082 and loads the control descriptorcorresponding to the AE transmit queue element on the radio transmitbuffer 960-1 at 1084. The backlog bit is not cleared until the AEtransmit queue 964-1 is left empty. In the example in FIG. 10B, the AEtransmit queue 964-1 has three more linked list elements (including thenew linked list element added at 1080).

When the control descriptor is added to the radio transmit buffer 960-1at 1084, the assist engine 904 increments the depth of the radiotransmit buffer 960-1 in the transmit buffer depth state 1060 (in FIG.10E). Since there is at least one packet being transmitted by the radiomodule 908 a, the assist engine 904 begins polling or snooping thetransmit-done bit in the status ring addressed by the current statuspointer 1046 (in FIG. 10D). When the transmit-done bit is set, theassist engine 904 retrieves the data referenced by the current statuspointer 1046 to determine the AE transmit queue 964 that is associatedwith the data transmitted at the setting of the transmit-done bit. Theassist engine 904 reads the status linked list head from the statuslinked list head 1050 corresponding to the AE transmit queue 964corresponding to the transmitted data. The assist engine 904 reads thestatus descriptor pointer from the status linked list element. The full9 dwords of status data from the current status pointer area 1046 aretransferred to the status descriptor area and the transmit-done bit inthe current status pointer 1046 is cleared. The current status pointer1046 is then incremented to point to the next entry. The assist engine904 decrements the depth of AE transmit queue 964 corresponding to thetransmitted data in the linked list depth state area 1060.

It will be understood that the foregoing description of numerousimplementations has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the claimedinventions to the precise forms disclosed. For example, the aboveexamples have been described as implemented according to IEEE 802.11anand 802.11bgn. Other implementations may use other standards. Inaddition, examples of the wireless access points described above may usehousings of different shapes, not just round housing. The number ofradios in the sectors and the number of sectors defined for any givenimplementation may also be different. Modifications and variations arepossible in light of the above description or may be acquired frompracticing the invention. The claims and their equivalents define thescope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless network access device comprising: aradio interface comprising a serial communication line, a switch, and Mserial connections to M connectors for connecting up to M correspondingdetachable radio modules, the radio interface configured to form up to Mindividually addressable radio communications paths via the switch; eachradio module comprising a radio configured to communicate with clientdevices in a corresponding coverage area and a radio processorconfigured to manage at least one radio receiving buffer configured tostore receiver buffer identifiers, each receiver buffer identifieridentifying a corresponding received data space, the radio processorconfigured to store a next received data packet in the received dataspace corresponding to a current receiver buffer identifier and toidentify a next receiver buffer identifier as the current receiverbuffer identifier; a network interface configured to provide datanetwork access; a processor configured to manage communication betweenthe client devices that communicate with the radio modules and a datanetwork via the radio interface and the network interface when N radiomodules are connected to the radio interface, where N≦M; N receivebuffers in a system memory corresponding to the N connected radiomodules, each receive buffer comprising a plurality of receiver bufferidentifiers identifying the received data spaces in system memorydesignated for storing received data from the corresponding radiomodule, the processor configured to communicate a next-in-queue receiverbuffer identifier to a selected one of the N radio modules after theselected one of the N radio modules has used the current receiver bufferidentifier to store a received data packet; an assist engine connectedin the serial connection between the processor and the switch, theassist engine configured to receive the next-in-queue receiver bufferidentifier, to store the next-in-queue receiver buffer identifier in anassist engine receive queue corresponding to the selected one of the Nradio modules, and to communicate a next-to-radio receiver bufferidentifier to the selected one of the N radio modules from the assistengine receive queue.
 2. The wireless network access device of claim Awhere the assist engine is configured: to generate an assist enginereceive queue element for storing the next-in-queue receiver bufferidentifier received from the processor and receiver queue managementinformation, to add the assist engine receive queue element to theassist engine receive queue, the assist engine receive queue comprisinga plurality of assist engine receive queue elements containing queuedreceiver buffer identifiers to be sequentially provided to the selectedone of the N radio modules starting with a next-to-radio assist enginereceive queue element, to communicate a next-to-radio receiver bufferidentifier in the next-to-radio assist engine receive queue element, andto determine another next-to-radio assist engine receive queue elementaccording to the receiver queue management information.
 3. The wirelessnetwork access device of claim 2 where the assist engine is configured:to generate the assist engine receive queue as a linked list of assistengine receive queue elements where the receiver queue managementinformation in each assist engine receive queue element includes anidentifier to a next linked list and the assist engine includes a linkedlist status block.
 4. The wireless network access device of claim 3where the assist engine is configured: to generate multiple assistengine receive queues as linked lists of fixed length queues.
 5. Thewireless network access device of claim 1 where: the received dataspaces identified by the received buffer identifiers are socket buffers;and the received buffer identifiers are pointers to the socket buffers.6. The wireless network access device of claim 1 where: the at least oneradio receiving buffer in each radio module is configured to have afixed number of receive buffer entries, and the radio processorgenerates additional radio receiving buffers as each at least one radioreceiving buffer is filled.
 7. The wireless network access device ofclaim 1 where: the at least one radio receiving buffer in each radiomodule is configured to have a fixed number of receive buffer entries,and the radio processor generates a number of the at least one radioreceiving buffer based on an expected input traffic.
 8. The wirelessnetwork access device of claim 1, where: the radio processor in theradio module is further configured to manage at least one radio transmitbuffer configured to store transmit data buffer identifiers, eachtransmit data buffer identifiers identifying a corresponding data spacecontaining data to be transmitted, the radio processor configured toretrieve a next data packet to transmit from the data spacecorresponding to a current transmit data buffer identifier and toidentify a next transmit data buffer identifier as the current transmitdata buffer identifier; the wireless network access device furthercomprising N transmit buffers in a system memory corresponding to the Nconnected radio modules, each transmit buffer comprising a plurality oftransmit data buffer identifiers identifying the data spaces in systemmemory containing data to be transmitted by the corresponding radiomodule, the processor configured to communicate a next-in-queue transmitdata buffer identifier to a selected one of the N radio modules afterthe selected one of the N radio modules has used the current transmitdata buffer identifier to transmit the corresponding data packet; wherethe assist engine is configured: to receive the next-in-queue transmitdata buffer identifier, to store the next-in-queue transmit data bufferidentifier in an assist engine transmit queue corresponding to theselected one of the N radio modules, and to communicate a next-to-radiotransmit data buffer identifier to the selected one of the N radiomodules from the assist engine transmit queue.
 9. The wireless networkaccess device of claim 8, where the assist engine is configured: togenerate an assist engine transmit queue element for storing thenext-in-queue transmit data buffer identifier received from theprocessor and transmitter queue management information, to add theassist engine transmit queue element to the assist engine transmitqueue, the assist engine transmit queue comprising a plurality of assistengine transmit queue elements containing queued transmit data bufferidentifiers to be sequentially provided to the selected one of the Nradio modules starting with a next-to-radio assist engine transmit queueelement, to communicate a next-to-radio transmit data buffer identifierin the next-to-radio assist engine transmit queue element, and todetermine another next-to-radio assist engine transmit queue elementaccording to the transmitter queue management information.
 10. Thewireless network access device of claim 9 where the assist engine isconfigured: to generate the assist engine transmit queue as a linkedlist of assist engine transmit queue elements where the transmit queuemanagement information in each assist engine transmit queue elementincludes an identifier to a next linked list and the assist engineincludes a linked list transmit status block.
 11. The wireless networkaccess device of claim 10 where the assist engine is configured: togenerate multiple assist engine transmit queues as linked lists of fixedlength queues.
 12. The wireless network access device of claim 1 where:the transmit data spaces identified by the transmit data bufferidentifiers are control descriptors having links to additional controldescriptors and a link to the transmit data space containing the data tobe transmitted; and the transmit data buffer identifiers are pointers tothe control descriptors.
 13. The wireless network access device of claim1 where: the at least one radio transmit buffer in each radio module isconfigured to have a fixed number of radio transmit buffer entries, andthe radio processor generates additional radio transmit buffers as eachat least one radio transmit buffer is filled.
 14. The wireless networkaccess device of claim 1 where: the at least one radio transmit bufferin each radio module is configured to have a fixed number of transmitbuffer entries, and the radio processor generates a number of the atleast one radio transmit buffer based on an expected input traffic. 15.A wireless network access device comprising: a radio interfacecomprising a serial communication line, a switch, and M serialconnections to M connectors for connecting up to M correspondingdetachable radio modules, the radio interface configured to form up to Mindividually addressable radio communications paths via the switch; eachradio module comprising a radio configured to communicate with clientdevices in a corresponding coverage area and a radio processorconfigured to manage at least one radio transmit buffer configured tostore transmit data buffer identifiers, each transmit data bufferidentifiers identifying a corresponding data space containing data to betransmitted, the radio processor configured to retrieve a next datapacket to transmit from the data space corresponding to a currenttransmit data buffer identifier and to identify a next transmit databuffer identifier as the current transmit data buffer identifier; anetwork interface configured to provide data network access; a processorconfigured to manage communication between the client devices thatcommunicate with the radio modules and a data network via the radiointerface and the network interface when N radio modules are connectedto the radio interface, where N≦M; N transmit buffers in a system memorycorresponding to the N connected radio modules, each transmit buffercomprising a plurality of transmit data buffer identifiers identifyingthe data spaces in system memory containing data to be transmitted bythe corresponding radio module, the processor configured to communicatea next-in-queue transmit data buffer identifier to a selected one of theN radio modules after the selected one of the N radio modules has usedthe current transmit data buffer identifier to transmit thecorresponding data packet; an assist engine connected in the serialconnection between the processor and the switch, the assist engineconfigured: to receive the next-in-queue transmit data bufferidentifier, to store the next-in-queue transmit data buffer identifierin an assist engine transmit queue corresponding to the selected one ofthe N radio modules, and to communicate a next-to-radio transmit databuffer identifier to the selected one of the N radio modules from theassist engine transmit queue.
 16. The wireless network access device ofclaim 15 where the assist engine is configured: to generate an assistengine transmit queue element for storing the next-in-queue transmitdata buffer identifier received from the processor and transmitter queuemanagement information, to add the assist engine transmit queue elementto the assist engine transmit queue, the assist engine transmit queuecomprising a plurality of assist engine transmit queue elementscontaining queued transmit data buffer identifiers to be sequentiallyprovided to the selected one of the N radio modules starting with anext-to-radio assist engine transmit queue element, to communicate anext-to-radio transmit data buffer identifier in the next-to-radioassist engine transmit queue element, and to determine anothernext-to-radio assist engine transmit queue element according to thetransmitter queue management information.
 17. The wireless networkaccess device of claim 15, where: the radio processor in the radiomodule is further configured to manage at least one radio receivingbuffer configured to store receiver buffer identifiers, each receiverbuffer identifier identifying a corresponding received data space, theradio processor configured to store a next received data packet in thereceived data space corresponding to a current receiver bufferidentifier and to identify a next receiver buffer identifier as thecurrent receiver buffer identifier; the wireless network access devicefurther comprising N receive buffers in a system memory corresponding tothe N connected radio modules, each receive buffer comprising aplurality of receiver buffer identifiers identifying the received dataspaces in system memory designated for storing received data from thecorresponding radio module, the processor configured to communicate anext-in-queue receiver buffer identifier to a selected one of the Nradio modules after the selected one of the N radio modules has used thecurrent receiver buffer identifier to store a received data packet;where the assist engine is configured: to receive the next-in-queuereceiver buffer identifier, to store the next-in-queue receiver bufferidentifier in an assist engine receive queue corresponding to theselected one of the N radio modules, and to communicate a next-to-radioreceiver buffer identifier to the selected one of the N radio modulesfrom the assist engine receive queue.
 18. The wireless network accessdevice of claim 17, where the assist engine is configured: to generatean assist engine receive queue element for storing the next-in-queuereceiver buffer identifier received from the processor and receiverqueue management information, to add the assist engine receive queueelement to the assist engine receive queue, the assist engine receivequeue comprising a plurality of assist engine receive queue elementscontaining queued receiver buffer identifiers to be sequentiallyprovided to the selected one of the N radio modules starting with anext-to-radio assist engine receive queue element, to communicate anext-to-radio receiver buffer identifier in the next-to-radio assistengine receive queue element, and to determine another next-to-radioassist engine receive queue element according to the receiver queuemanagement information.